Does anyone else feel that most modern games lack fun and intuitive core gameplay? (Read OP first)

I do. I find that the vast majority of game (especially PS3 games) are more praised for their atmosphere, graphics, and cinematic cut scenes, etc then they are for their core gameplay. This is why I'm becoming more of a retro gamer. Old games (SNES, N64, etc) are just more fun to play than the games today, and have better core gameplay (they can't rely on their graphics and presentation or cinematic cut scenes to drive the game, so they need to rely on fun and intuitive gameplay to be good). I don't get why games today have to sacrifice quality core gameplay for presentation (it's style over substance). Why can't we have the presentation quality of today combined with the fun and addictive core gameplay of games from the 80s and 90s? And me liking old games isn't about nostalgia. I played a lot of classic old games like Super Metroid and Link to the Past for the first time only a year or so ago, and I loved them. Anyways, I digress. What's the deal with lack of quality core gameplay, and original core gameplay in games today. The only games this gen that have excellent core gameplay that I've heard of are the Mario Galaxy games. I can't think of any PS3 games that have quality core gameplay (for the most part, they rely on presentation and cinematic cut scenes, but have lackluster gameplay).

I do love me some classic gaming. The Super Mario games are great. Donkey Kong Country. Castlevania. Mega Man X. And so on.

Some games haven't aged well though. I used to love Super Mario Kart, and it's still good, but when I compare it to a modern racing game like F1 2012 or even a more modern kart game, I prefer the modern stuff.

I don't really think classic games have a better core gameplay than games of today. I mean, a game like GTA V is just plain fun. I had more fun with games like Halo 3 than I did with any game in my NES/SNES days.

So ultimately it boils down to this: there are some amazing games from the past and there are some amazing games in the present. And there will be amazing games in the future. Likewise, there was a lot of shit in the past. A whole lot. There really was. And there is in the present and will be in the future too.

I do love me some classic gaming. The Super Mario games are great. Donkey Kong Country. Castlevania. Mega Man X. And so on.

Some games haven't aged well though. I used to love Super Mario Kart, and it's still good, but when I compare it to a modern racing game like F1 2012 or even a more modern kart game, I prefer the modern stuff.

I don't really think classic games have a better core gameplay than games of today. I mean, a game like GTA V is just plain fun. I had more fun with games like Halo 3 than I did with any game in my NES/SNES days.

So ultimately it boils down to this: there are some amazing games from the past and there are some amazing games in the present. And there will be amazing games in the future. Likewise, there was a lot of shit in the past. A whole lot. There really was. And there is in the present and will be in the future too.

Click to expand...

Most (not all) "amazing games" these days are considered to be amazing because of their presentation, graphics, and cutscenes NOT their core gameplay. For most "amazing games" these days, if you were to strip away the fancy graphics and presentation, they'd be pretty lackluster. Games today (again, not all games) lack the type of core gameplay that could carry the game on it's own. I want games with excellent core gameplay with good graphics and presentation being the icing on the cake. I really can't think of any games from this gen except for the Mario Galaxy games in which I thought, "wow, that game was fun." It's more along the line of "that game was pretty cool, but I wouldn't call it fun."

Personally I think core gameplay has improved immensely, it's hard to find games that don't atleast have good controls anymore, and it's exceedingly hard to find games that have terrible camera systems which were commonplace before.

Yeah, I understand what you mean by core gameplay -- I think we just disagree that core gameplay has gotten worse. I feel the same as BOP above; I think it has actually improved over time. Some games are so perfect though, like Super Mario World, that you can't really "improve" on them much, if at all. It's the perfect type of 2D platformer.

Here's an example: racing games. The physics and feel of the games are so realistic nowadays. We just didn't have the technology for that back in the 90s.

Yeah, I understand what you mean by core gameplay -- I think we just disagree that core gameplay has gotten worse. I feel the same as BOP above; I think it has actually improved over time. Some games are so perfect though, like Super Mario World, that you can't really "improve" on them much, if at all. It's the perfect type of 2D platformer.

Here's an example: racing games. The physics and feel of the games are so realistic nowadays. We just didn't have the technology for that back in the 90s.

Click to expand...

Well, I don't think anyone thought Nintendo could improve upon Super Mario Galaxy, but then Super Mario Galaxy 2 came out, and look what happened.

There is nothing wrong with core gameplay today. In fact, we have more interesting core gameplay today than ever before. Also, atmosphere, graphics etc are also part of gameplay. They are important because improved technology requires everything improve. A photorealistic Mario game would be awful.

You just think the older games are better because of classic 20/20 hindsight. The only games from before that are playable now have some kind of merit and all the crappy games from before have been forgotten. There were games with bad cameras, horrible controls, awful graphics and so on but they've been forgotten, just as the bad games this generation will be forgotten.

Yeah, I had the moist fun last generation. Those games had atmosphere, etc, and were...fun. It's like modern gaming takes itself too seriously. (Example: the puritanical hatred toward cheat codes). Though, that aside, I do find there are games this generation that I have enjoyed a lot. Then again, there's also a lot that frustrated the frak out of me, and so I just gave up on them (ie: Borderlands).

I didn't enjoy Borderlands either to be honest, it was basically "go here and kill this" type of game for me. I didn't mind this generation of games, that's not to say that we have had some pretty disastrous games. Though I do praise some companies for diversifying their overall atmosphere of games. Such as Dues Ex Human Revolution or PREY, they were some of my highlights. But if you go to games like Mario, do you feel immersed into their world? If companies find that perfect balance between immersion and gameplay then that's what I think a perfect game is like IMO. For example - DOOM

If you're looking for some newer games with that old-school heart, or just good core gameplay in general, I've got a few for ya:

Dark Souls

Demon's Souls

Arma 3

XCOM Enemy Unknown

The Last of Us (Seriously)

The Witcher 2

Fallout: New Vegas

STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl

Failure is a very real possibility in all those games, they don't hold your hand, they've all got a lot of meat on the bones, and they're just put together well. They also avoid a lot of exposition (even TLoU, for the most part) and let their gameplay speak for itself.

I do love me some classic gaming. The Super Mario games are great. Donkey Kong Country. Castlevania. Mega Man X. And so on.

Some games haven't aged well though. I used to love Super Mario Kart, and it's still good, but when I compare it to a modern racing game like F1 2012 or even a more modern kart game, I prefer the modern stuff.

I don't really think classic games have a better core gameplay than games of today. I mean, a game like GTA V is just plain fun. I had more fun with games like Halo 3 than I did with any game in my NES/SNES days.

So ultimately it boils down to this: there are some amazing games from the past and there are some amazing games in the present. And there will be amazing games in the future. Likewise, there was a lot of shit in the past. A whole lot. There really was. And there is in the present and will be in the future too.

Click to expand...

Most (not all) "amazing games" these days are considered to be amazing because of their presentation, graphics, and cutscenes NOT their core gameplay. For most "amazing games" these days, if you were to strip away the fancy graphics and presentation, they'd be pretty lackluster. Games today (again, not all games) lack the type of core gameplay that could carry the game on it's own. I want games with excellent core gameplay with good graphics and presentation being the icing on the cake. I really can't think of any games from this gen except for the Mario Galaxy games in which I thought, "wow, that game was fun." It's more along the line of "that game was pretty cool, but I wouldn't call it fun."

Click to expand...

I actually like a lot of current games for example borderlands 1 and 2 not fancy graphics at all completely original and fun, and I know a lot of people will not agree with me on this one but I actually have enjoyed every call of duty campaign except for black ops 2, not to forget the assassins creed series. I know that their are more but I can't think of them right now.

First, I will say that over the past couple of years, a good chunk of my game time has been playing "retro" or old games, hell, I recently replayed Grim Fandango for it's 15-year anniversary.....before that, I replayed 2003's Silent Hill 3 during the month of October...and in the immediate months before I replayed games like Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, Super Mario 64 and Giants: Citizen Kabuto.

Before a couple of years ago I would would have agreed with the OP.....and there have certainly been many aspects in the big-budget gaming industry that has completely turned me off and where I've seen beloved old IPs and series I once loved get dragged through the mud or get a fate worse then death.

At the same time, I probably haven't been this excited for gaming in a long time, mainly because of the indie scene. In the past couple of years, the list of new games I want to play has been longer then it's ever been. In addition, things that were straight up fantasy just four or five years ago are now a reality....such as....

Sure, there are currently a lot of aspect of the gaming industry, particularly within the mainstream gaming industry that is either aggravating or downright depressing.....but, on the flip side, there are also many exciting things happening outside of (and even within) mainstream circles.

Great new creative original IP is being made, while at the same time some old-school classic styles of gameplay are actually enjoying a revival of sorts, you just need to know where to look.

I think the best thing to happen to gaming in the last 5-10 years is the success of the low budget title. To the best of my recollection it really started with the popular success of Geometry Wars on XBL, which was an early success story for digital games, XBLA and retro gaming. Now most of the really creative stuff out there is coming from the indie and low budget scene, which wasn't much of a factor in previous generations. And I love that even the console manufacturers are supporting that trend, at least to an extent.